New River Gorge - Kaymoor Miners Trail

Our first hike on this day was an easy walk across the top of the gorge - Endless Wall. This second one was a strenuous hike straight down the mountain and then back up. Believe it or not, we thoroughly enjoyed both of them. 

Some of the reviews I read before our trip said the Kaymoor Miners Trail was super difficult but nothing special, and you should only do it to "check off the box". Others agreed that it was strenuous and challenging, but worth it. Well, since we're "check off the box" kind of people when it comes to National Park hikes, this was definitely something we wanted to do, and I'm glad we did. 

Kaymoor Miners Trail is on the opposite side of the gorge, so we had a nice view of the Endless Wall from this trail.

First, just off the trailhead parking lot, we read the signs and briefly explored the ruins (basically just the concrete slab) of a tram that took the miners down the hill a hundred years ago. The initial drop off was reputed to be quite harrowing, but apparently it beat walking. (See if you can see the abandoned tracks in any of our pictures.)

Then we started down the steep switchbacks, enjoying the shade and the "weeping rock" we passed, until we reached a flat area where some buildings used to be.

The miners didn't have these nice stairs, but apparently they did have some ladders.

Next came the stairs - about 820 of them!

They followed the old tracks.

The stairs ended at a fenced off area, which was actually quite disappointing, with the forest growing over some old buildings, and no view of the river. Fortunately, we had enough strength and energy to retrace our steps back up the hillside.

We made it to the top!